🚀 Getting Started Guide

Welcome to your modern portfolio and blog! This guide will help you get up and running.

📋 Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have:

• Git installed
• Ruby 2.7 or higher
• Bundler gem (gem install bundler)
• A text editor (VS Code recommended)

🔧 Initial Setup

1. Install Dependencies

# Navigate to your project directory
cd simplisticmartin.github.io

# Install Ruby gems
bundle install

2. Configure Your Site

Edit _config.yml with your information:

title: "Your Name"
tagline: "Your Professional Title"
description: "Your site description"
email: your.email@example.com
author: Your Name

social:
  github: yourusername
  linkedin: yourusername
  email: your.email@example.com

url: "https://yourusername.github.io"

3. Update Your Profile

Replace the profile image:

• Add your photo to /img/profile-pic.jpg
• Recommended size: 500x500px
• Format: JPG or PNG

4. Add Your Projects

Edit assets/js/projects-data.js:

const projects = [
  {
    title: "Project Name",
    description: "Project description...",
    image: "/img/project-icons/project.png",
    tags: ["JavaScript", "React", "Node.js"],
    github: "https://github.com/yourusername/project",
    demo: "https://project-demo.com",
    featured: true
  },
  // Add more projects...
];

5. Update Your Resume

• Replace /Resume.pdf with your resume
• Or update the link in navigation files

📝 Creating Blog Posts

Quick Start

1. Create a new file in _posts/ directory
2. Name it: YYYY-MM-DD-title.markdown
3. Use the template from _drafts/TEMPLATE.md

Blog Post Format

---
layout: post
title: "My First Post"
date: 2026-01-20 12:00:00
categories: [category1, category2]
tags: [tag1, tag2, tag3]
author: Your Name
read_time: 5
description: "Post description"
---

Your content here...

Preview Your Post

# Start the development server
bundle exec jekyll serve

# Visit http://localhost:4000

🎨 Customization

Colors

Edit assets/css/modern.css:

:root {
  --primary-color: #6366f1;    /* Main brand color */
  --secondary-color: #ec4899;   /* Accent color */
  /* Modify other variables... */
}

Fonts

Change fonts in _layouts/default.html:

<link href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=YourFont:wght@400;700&display=swap" rel="stylesheet">

Then update CSS:

:root {
  --font-primary: 'YourFont', sans-serif;
}

🚀 Deployment

GitHub Pages (Recommended)

1. Commit your changes:

   git add .
   git commit -m "Update portfolio"
   

2. Push to GitHub:

   git push origin master
   

3. Enable GitHub Pages:
   • Go to your repository settings
   • Scroll to “GitHub Pages”
   • Select “master” branch as source
   • Save
4. Your site will be live at: https://yourusername.github.io

Custom Domain (Optional)

1. Add CNAME file with your domain
2. Configure DNS settings with your registrar
3. Enable HTTPS in GitHub settings

🧪 Testing Locally

# Serve site with drafts
bundle exec jekyll serve --drafts

# Serve with live reload
bundle exec jekyll serve --livereload

# Build for production
bundle exec jekyll build

📊 Analytics (Optional)

Google Analytics

1. Get your GA4 tracking ID
2. Add to _config.yml:

   google_analytics: "G-XXXXXXXXXX"
   

🔍 SEO Optimization

Your site is already optimized with:

• ✅ Meta descriptions
• ✅ Open Graph tags
• ✅ Twitter Cards
• ✅ Sitemap
• ✅ robots.txt
• ✅ RSS feed

Improve SEO Further:

1. Write good meta descriptions for each post
2. Use descriptive titles (50-60 characters)
3. Optimize images (compress before uploading)
4. Use internal links between posts
5. Submit sitemap to Google Search Console

🐛 Troubleshooting

Jekyll won’t start

# Update gems
bundle update

# Clean cache
bundle exec jekyll clean

# Rebuild
bundle exec jekyll serve

CSS not updating

• Clear browser cache (Ctrl+Shift+R)
• Check file paths in HTML
• Verify CSS file exists

Images not showing

• Check file paths (case-sensitive)
• Ensure images are in correct directory
• Use relative paths: /img/image.jpg

📚 Useful Resources

• Jekyll Documentation
• GitHub Pages Guide
• Markdown Guide
• Font Awesome Icons

💡 Tips & Best Practices

Writing

• Keep paragraphs short (3-4 sentences)
• Use headings to organize content
• Add images to break up text
• Include code examples when relevant
• Proofread before publishing

Images

• Optimize for web (< 200KB)
• Use descriptive file names
• Add alt text for accessibility
• Consider using WebP format

Performance

• Minimize custom JavaScript
• Optimize images
• Use external CDNs for libraries
• Enable browser caching

🆘 Need Help?

• Documentation: Check the README.md
• Issues: Open an issue on GitHub
• Questions: Email simplisticmartin@gmail.com

🎉 Next Steps

1. ✅ Customize your site information
2. ✅ Add your projects
3. ✅ Write your first blog post
4. ✅ Push to GitHub Pages
5. ✅ Share with the world!

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Happy coding! 🚀